Introducing Nevada’s 2011 Cherry Blossom Princess

Having shrugged off the threat of a government shutdown, the 2011 Cherry Blossom Parade and street festival took place as scheduled today in Washington D.C.

The annual rite of spring in the nation's capital includes a showcase of Cherry Blossom princesses representing each of the states.

Nevada's Cherry Blossom princess this year is Karlee Tebbutt, 24, who is from Reno, and who works as a legislative correspondent in the Washington office of Sen. Harry Reid.

Karlee graduated from Reno High School and is a 2009 graduate of the University of Nevada, Reno, where she earned a bachelor's degree in political science and Spanish. During her college years she studied abroad in Alicante, Spain and Puntarenas, Costa Rica, and also completed a summer exchange in France.